Soil Science

Scores from the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), or from a comparable substitute examination, are required for admission. At the discretion of the graduate standards committee, a student may be admitted provisionally for graduate study in the program without these scores. Requirements listed here are in addition to general Graduate School requirements stated in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of the Graduate Bulletin.

Prerequisites for major work in Soil Science vary with the area of specialization and the degree sought, but courses in chemistry, mathematics, physics, geology, basic and applied biological sciences are required.

The language of instruction at Penn State is English. All international applicants must take and submit scores for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), with the exceptions noted below. The minimum acceptable score for the TOEFL is 550 for the paper-based test, or a total score of 80 with a 19 on the speaking section for the Internet-based test (iBT). The minimum acceptable composite score for the IELTS is 6.5.

International applicants are exempt from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement who have received a baccalaureate or a graduate degree from a college/university/institution in any of the following: Australia, Belize, British Caribbean and British West Indies, Canada (except Quebec), England, Guyana, Republic of Ireland, Liberia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the United States, and Wales.

Applicants must hold either (1) a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or (2) a tertiary (postsecondary) degree that is deemed comparable to a four-year bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution. This degree must be from an officially recognized degree-granting institution in the country in which it operates.

Applicants for the M.S. degree must have a baccalaureate degree including 76 credits of basic and applied natural sciences. Admission to the Ph.D. program usually requires an M.S. or equivalent degree with a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.25 (on a 4.00 scale). Applicants for the Ph.D. program will be evaluated on the quality of work completed in all previous degree programs. Students who lack some of the prerequisite courses may be admitted but are required to take these courses without degree credit. The best-qualified applicants will be accepted up to the number of spaces available for new students.